sudden nightfall
by cedricsowner
Summary: In a race against time a desperate unsub takes desperate measures. Rossi-centered, what else, but I've left some tiny space for Morgan and Garcia, too. Slight references to episodes 2.23, 3.20, 4.1, 4.8. Please mind the rating!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

sudden nightfall

_It is said that Jawaharlal Nehru, the first president of independent India, in the beginning merely joined Gandhi's freedom movement to set himself apart from his father, the very successful lawyer Motilal Nehru. True or not, doubtlessly the relationship between son and father is one of the most defining factors in a man's life._

The young man quietly slipped out of his apartment and scurried down the corridor, silent as a mouse. All he wanted was some coffee and a donut or two. He had worked all night long and desperately needed a dose of caffeine and sugar. Yes, his doctors had told him a healthy diet would increase his life expectancy, but who cares when in the end it all boils down to a week more or less in a hospital bed, wearing diapers and being attached to half a dozen beeping machines? Edward Gordon had decided months ago that he preferred to die with dignity, even if it meant that it would happen half a year earlier. There was only one thing left to do, one desperate desire he wished to fulfill before he went.

He had almost made it to the staircase when the last door on the left opened and a wheezy voice coughed: "Good morning Mr. Gordon! Up and about so early?" Edward sometimes thought how ironic it was that 86-years old, asthmatic, extremely fragile-looking Mrs. Silverman, who read the death notices in the newspaper every day to make sure she hadn't passed away yet, would most likely outlive him. "You look starved, young man!", she said accusingly. "You must eat regularly. Let me make some hearty New England breakfast for you!" Declining was impossible. Not without breaking the lonely lady's weak heart.

An hour later Edward Gordon returned to his apartment, strengthened by an indeed well-cooked breakfast, and resumed his work. The bomb was almost finished. All that was left to do was connecting the fuze with the explosive. And planting it, of course. His target was teaching at FBI academy today. It wouldn't be easy - he was a close combat specialist. "I hope it won't help him much", the young man thought, preparing the tranquilizer that was meant to put a damper on any attempts of resistance. In a few hours FBI Agent Derek Morgan would make his way from the sports hall to the parking lot. As Gordon had figured out weeks ago, this would be the best moment to strike.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

Unlike his students, Derek Morgan didn't feel too exhausted after his training session with the rookies. He actually contemplated going jogging afterwards. The air was wonderfully fresh and the sun shone invitingly. On the other hand Hotch had set up a meeting at noon and he was already a little late, so after a moment of hesitation, Derek decided to go to the northern parking lot where his car – and unfortunately not only his car - was waiting.

Half down the way, someone called him. Rhena, one of the rookies he had trained last year, came running up to him. "Hey, Derek", she smiled. "Remember me?" She was sporty, long-haired, had curves in all the right places and a dazzling sense of humor. Answer the question for yourself. "I was wondering… there's this one move when the opponent is down but grabbing your feet… I'm always reacting wrong, but you taught us a great trick for exactly this situation – could you show it to me again? I'd buy you a cup of coffee…" Her smile widened, revealing shiny, pearly white teeth.

What was this, the morning of temptations? First this wonderful jogging weather, now this celestial gift to manhood… Morgan was tempted. But dealing with an angry Hotch, on the other hand, was a not-so-delightful prospect. With a feeling that he would regret this later (oh yes, he would, but for other reasons than he thought at that moment), he declined and excused himself.

The agent had almost reached his car when his cell phone started to ring. "Derek? It's Reid. Look, you can't possibly pass by shooting instructor Roughberry's office and tell him that I won't be able to do my qualifiers today? I'm feeling rather sick, I've got a sore throat, I might have caught the flu and I really don't want to infect him, he's got four kids, if they all get the flu…."

"How very thoughtful of you, Reid, but you want to lie to someone, you do it yourself. And besides that, I'm already running late for that meeting Hotch set up at noon."

"Oh, that? It was postponed – Strauss wanted to talk to Hotch and he said it would take a while. We're meeting in late afternoon. Since you have time now, are you sure you won't stop by Roughberry's office…?

"Forget it, kid!"

For a short moment, Agent Morgan thought about going back to the building in search for Rhena, but there was so much paperwork waiting at the BAU and he didn't want to give Strauss another reason to criticize Hotch's style of leadership, so he decided against it. He opened his car, threw his gym bag into the trunk and himself on the driver's seat. With a loud "Bam!" he slammed his vehicle's door shut. He was just about to turn his sound system on when something unusual caught his attention – the power door lock system came to life and locked all the doors before he had even thought about turning on the ignition. This was strange. Morgan rattled at the driver's door, but it was firmly sealed. He turned on the ignition – nothing happened. The agent reached for his cell phone. Something was definitely wrong here.

At this very moment, his side window was smashed into pieces. It happened so fast, the profiler barely saw the unusually plump-looking gun trained at him or heard the soft plop it made as his attacker pulled the trigger, but he distinctly felt the sharp pain in his chest as a tiny metal arrow hit him right above his heart. Within seconds, the world turned midnight black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

"Someone tampered with ignition and power door lock, thus capturing Derek in his own car", Reid told the rest of the group, voice trembling. They were all still deeply shocked at the news that had reached them an hour ago. "Surveillance cameras show a young man breaking his window, shooting him and pulling him out of his car. It doesn't look random."

"Shooting him!?!", Garcia gasped. Her eyes were wide with fear and full of tears.

Prentiss gently took her hand and squeezed it in a comforting gesture. "There was no blood in the car. We think the attacker tranquilized him." This wasn't exactly good news. In their line of work they knew only too well what an unsub could do with a helpless victim. Frank, who had brought down Gideon, was still fresh in their minds.

"The facial recognition program would have spat out a name if Morgan had been attacked by someone he had put behind bars", Hotchner concluded. "But maybe an offender's family member decided to take revenge on him. Garcia, we need a list of relatives that fit the description of the unsub. And could you check his e-mails for any unusual messages?" He quickly distributed the rest of the team: "Reid, Prentiss, talk to the guards again. JJ, you hold the fort here. Rossi and I go to Derek's house."

The agents worked all day long and deep into the night. Some time past midnight they all gathered in the BAU again. Nobody wanted to go home, so they finally fell asleep around the conference table. At about four in the morning, Reid suddenly awoke with a start. Disoriented, he looked around. JJ and Garcia had retired to the small couch at the far end of the room, huddled against each other. Rossi snored deeply, awkwardly leaning backwards in his chair. Prentiss' head was on the table top, resting on her folded arms. Hotch was standing at the window, staring into the sepulchral darkness. Quietly Reid got up and joined his boss and friend.

"This blackness is unbelievable", the older agent said.

"The adage that it's always darkest before dawn is not really true", Reid replied. "Actually it's darkest when the moon is not out and the stars are obscured by clouds or mist."

"At the moment, this amounts to the same thing", Hotchner answered. "We received no ransom demand. The first 24 hours have almost passed. All our efforts led to nothing so far. Derek is out there somewhere and we…"

A loud computer signal interrupted him and woke the others.

"What's that…?", Rossi groaned, massaging his stiff neck.

"That's coming from my office!", Garcia shouted and jumped to her feet, causing JJ, who was still leaning against her, to fall off the couch. The technical analyst dashed out of the room, the rest of the team followed suit. "It's the signal of Derek's cell phone", she explained, hectically typing. "It was switched off immediately after the attack. Now it's on again. If it stays on for another 30 seconds, I can locate it… oh, please, please…" They couldn't see it since the young woman's office was windowless, but in the east the first rays of the sun slowly illuminated the sky. "Yes!" Her main computer monitor displayed a map with the phone's location blinking in bright red light. Not only her mouth fell open when she saw the address. "But that's…"

Hotchner was already on the phone: "We need a SWAT team at Agent Morgan's house! Fast!" Then he saw Rossi's thoughtful face.

"Remember Rothschild?", the senior agent asked.

"White mane, totally insane?", Garcia piped up.

"Exactly. He tried to use the woman and the children to lure us into his house, which he had designed as a giant death trap… There's no lucid reason why the unsub should suddenly switch Morgan's phone back on, unless he's using it as some kind of bait. We should check the entrances for booby-traps first."

Hotchner was on the phone again. "We'll be needing a bomb squad, too…", he said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

The agents arrived simultaneously with the SWAT team. Only then Hotchner realized that Garcia had tagged along, too, against all protocol. He let it pass, knowing that this was harder for her than for anyone else. They had no idea what they would find behind Derek's door, but with the memory of Frank lingering in the back of their minds, they feared it.

The bomb squad, complete with dogs and all sorts of technical equipment, arrived ten minutes later. By now, a sizeable armada of imposing looking FBI people, mostly dressed in black protection gear, displaying impressive armament such as machine guns and a battering ram, had gathered around Agent Morgan's house. Even Strauss was present to demonstrate concern.

Bomb squad people are meticulous people. "Meticulous and agonizingly slow", Garcia thought as the men gradually examined Morgan's porch.

"We'll slide a camera under the door to see if there are any bursters attached to it", one of the bomb experts yelled. Holding her breath, Garcia watched the men proceed. It seemingly took ages until they had the damn thing ready. "No charges, as far as I can see!", the man with the camera informed them. "But… uh-oh, someone is approaching the door!" He dropped his stuff and ran. Everyone with a weapon, even Reid, drew it and pointed it at the slowly-opening door.

"Whoa, I know I overslept somehow, but isn't this a little exaggerated?", Derek Morgan bursted out, totally shocked at the crowd of heavily-armed people staring at him in boxer shorts and rumpled t-shirt.

Seeing her friend, Garcia simply couldn't hold back. She shot past all her stunned colleagues and hugged him as tight as possible. "You're alive, you're alive, you're alive…" she repeated ceaselessly, tears flowing from her eyes.

"Hey, babygirl, stop crying. I've got no idea what happened… it feels like a killer hangover…"

"You scared us all shitless!", Garcia shouted, pounding his chest, immense relief washing over her. The agents all around relaxed. Hotchner signaled his team that it was okay to go ahead and join their technical analyst. He would have a serious talk about operation proceedings protocol with her later, but for now, all was well. "You're alive", Garcia told Morgan again and hugged him one more time.

Then she froze.

The young woman slowly looked at Morgan, then at herself. A bright red spot had appeared on her blouse, mirroring a similar spot on her friend's t-shirt. As if in trance, she rolled its front up. The sight that was revealed to her made her so sick that, she almost fainted. Tumbling backwards, she would have fallen if Rossi hadn't caught her in his strong arms.

Deeply shocked, Derek looked down his stomach – a thick, badly sewn up scar marred its perfect appearance. Ugly tattooed letters danced around the bloody gash, reopened by his friend's hugs. _"72 hours! You want to save him, find Ian Kerry"_, Rossi read aloud, his heart beating as violently as Garcia was shaking.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

"I knew things like this existed, but I never had the chance to actually lay eyes on one. This is truly fascinating, a work of art…" Reverently, Tim Boones, the bomb expert, held up an x-ray of Derek Morgan's abdomen.

Derek, rather subdued by the sedatives that had been given to him, opened his mouth to make an angry comment, but Dr. Landry, the surgeon who was supposed to get the damn thing out of him, was faster. "This "work of art" was planted into my patient's body and if we don't act as soon as possible it's going to kill him in less than 70 hours. So could you curb your enthusiasm a little and tell me what you're planning to do?", he demanded impatiently. Aaron Hotchner couldn't help but think how grateful he was for Landry's presence. Before he had even had thought of asking her, Strauss had already called in a couple of favors to get this genius with a scalpel from L.A. to Virginia.

Boones tried real hard to concentrate on the task at hand: "Well, the device is very cleverly constructed. Defusing it will be tricky, to say the least. It would be best to find the creator of this masterpiece. He must be a genius. Not many people on this planet would be able to build such a perfect little baby…" The Unit Chief, the surgeon and Derek harrumphed in unison. Almost blushing, the expert went back to business. "Through spectral analysis we figured out that the perpetrator used H16X78 as a blasting agent. Very nasty stuff."

"Can I operate the agent, take out the device and you defuse it later?", Landry asked.

The bomb expert weighed his head in a gesture of insecurity. "Very risky. As far as I can see, the bomb's counter derives its energy from Agent Morgan's body warmth. Theoretically it would be possible to replace the energy source, but it's very likely that the thing explodes in the mean time. It would be much better to defuse it while still connected to the body. Your technical analyst is already trawling the archives for similarly build bombs, I understand?"

"If there's anything out there, she'll find it", Morgan groaned, words stumbling out slowly. "Hotch, is there a reason why I'm this heavily sedated? I can hardly move."

"Back in New York you were willing to sacrifice yourself for the greater good when you drove the ambulance with the bomb away on your own", the Unit Chief replied. "Let's just say I don't want to see a repetition of that."

"Has Garcia uncovered anything helpful yet?", Reid asked, entering the room, closely followed by Rossi and Prentiss.

"I'm still waiting for a message from her", Hotch answered. "What did you find out?"

"Ian Kerry was reported missing in Richmond six months ago", Rossi replied, skipping through his notes. "He's 76 years old. Nobody spent much time on the case. The officer who was supposed to investigate his disappearance explained that a lot of old people vanish in Richmond – one day they just forget where they live and get lost, he said. Made it sound as if he was talking about stray cats…" The senior agent wondered where he would be in twenty years time. Around his 50th birthday a question had suddenly started nagging at him: Was it really worth to live to an old age? What if one day somebody spoke about him as if he was a stray animal? "Kerry was reported missing by his son, Edward Gordon. Poor chap. Terminally ill with cancer. His only wish is to see his father again before he dies."

Hotch's phone rang. Garcia, finally. "We'll have to figure out who else could have an interest to see Mr. Kerry again…", Hotch told Rossi as he put her on speaker.

"I might be able to help with that…", Garcia, who had overheard the last sentence, said. Her voice was strained. They were all keyed up, but she was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. "The bomb that was planted inside… inside…" she choked.

"It's okay, Penelope, we understand", Rossi told her calmly.

"Okay, the structure of this – thing – is the trademark of an IRA bomber named Dan O'Leary. A lot of people think he built the bomb that killed Lord Mountbatten and his 14 years old grandson Nicholas in 1979. Scotland Yard is sending someone to give us further information."

"They're sending _someone_?", Rossi complained. "Haven't they heard of e-mail yet? Just what we need, a wise-ass Brit. The last one was a real pain in the butt."

"Glad to hear I made a lasting impression, Agent Rossi", DI Kapoor smirked, leaning in the doorframe, green-brown eyes trained at him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

"DI Kapoor? Did another stalwart gentleman cause you to flee the country by proposing to you?", Rossi smirked back. Despite his prior comment, the sight of the slender detective pleased him. "Beautiful women", he thought, "are like a ray of silver moonlight in a dark night. They remind you that there's more to life than creeping around in the shadows."

Ishika decided to ignore his statement. "About six months ago Scotland Yard obtained proof that Dan O'Leary indeed built the bomb that was used in the assault on Mountbatten. O'Leary left Britain years ago, to an unknown destination, but some hints pointed to Virginia, so I went here a couple of weeks ago and nosed around a little. This bomb inside your agent could be the hot scent I've been hoping for." A stifled sob interrupted the DI. Penelope Garcia was still listening in via Hotch's cell phone.

"Garcia, I want you to take your laptop and work from here. Morgan needs someone by his side", the Unit Chief told her. The technical analyst hung up the phone so fast, she hardly said good-bye.

"What I don't understand is this Ian Kerry issue", DI Kapoor continued. "Who is that man? As far as I gather, O'Leary planted a bomb inside your agent to force you to find this old man. But why take such a risk? What could be so important about him?"

Rossi had asked himself the same question. Why take such a risk? O'Leary was an old man himself, way into his seventies, just like Kerry. Why not simply lay low for the rest of his more or less counted days? Why attract so much attention? _For the rest of his days…_ Something about this phrase made the profiler think. _An old man himself, just like Kerry…_ Suddenly his eyes went wide. "We've been looking at it from the wrong direction!", he shouted, already rushing out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

Locked doors had never been a problem for Dan O'Leary alias Ian Kerry. The door to his son's apartment gave in after less than thirty seconds. O'Leary was worried. He had spent six months in hiding. After that bloody traitor had given Scotland Yard the proof that he had built the bomb that took out Mountbatten he had decided to slope off for a while. He hadn't told Edward – the bomb expert knew from experience that the best protection for his near and dear ones was lack of knowledge. Ed already knew way too much. The old man hadn't been able to resist the urge to pass on his legacy: A unique style of brilliant bomb building. The boy had been an outstanding apprentice. Unfortunately he wasn't well – that was why O'Leary had finally decided to come back.

A look into the bedroom confirmed his gravest concerns. Edward, a mere shadow of himself, was lying in bed. His breath was so shallow, the sheet hardly moved. Quietly, the father sat down on the bed frame. His son's eyes fluttered open as he felt the presence of the other man. "Dad", he whispered. "You're back."

"Don't speak", O'Leary whispered, caressing his boy's sweaty forehead. If he had known how sick his child was, he would have never gone away. But Ed had hidden his true state of health very well from him.

"I was so worried", Edward whispered. "You just vanished… I thought something had happened to you. After three days I reported you missing, but the police didn't lift a finger. I'm so glad it worked…"

This last sentence confused the old man. "_What_ worked, Edward?", he asked. For the first time, he consciously took in his environment. He had concentrated so hard on his only son, he had simply overlooked all the way too familiar utensils, wires and circuit boards lying scattered on a big table by the window. "Oh my god, Edward, what did you do?", he gasped. His son squeezed his hand. A single tear ran down his cheek.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

On their way to Gordon's apartment DI Kapoor's cell phone rang. She looked at the number on the display and cut it off without answering. Twenty seconds later it rang again. She cut it off once more. When it signaled for the third time, Rossi seized it and answered the call: "Hi! This is DI Kapoor's answering machine. If you want to tell her that she's a real pain in the ass because she traveled to a foreign country instead of answering your marriage proposal, dial "1". If you want to tell her that you're breaking up because she did a runner instead of answering, dial "2". If you are a fool who thinks she'll come around eventually and change her ways, dial "3" and we'll connect you with a good psychiatrist."

Eyes burning angrily, Ishika recaptured her phone. "I understand that your big fat ego got damaged when I blocked your clever plan last time we met, but you've just overstepped the mark big time, old boy. Don't you dare do that again."

"The caller dialed "4", Rossi told her. "What does that mean?"

Ishika turned away and stared out of the window, face unreadable.

As they reached Gordon's address, they quickly discovered that there was no need to kick in the door. Someone had already picked the lock. They stormed into the small apartment, but all they found was the dead body of Edward Gordon. His hands were folded and his eyes were closed. "It looks as if he died in peace", Reid observed, studying the young man's sunken face.

"We'll need something short of a miracle, otherwise Morgan's death will be much less peaceful", Rossi growled, jaw clenching. He took out his phone to inform Hotch.

"I don't think he folded his hands like that himself", Ishika said. "Look at the way his whole body is positioned. Someone practically laid him out. O'Leary was here. I bet he taught his son how to build bombs. He'll be able to defuse the one Edward planted into Morgan."

"Great conclusion, Sherlock Holmes", the senior agent snorted. "So all we need to do is find him. You've been trying that for weeks and we've only got a couple of hours left."

"He's catholic. His son has just died. He'll be in a church", she replied undauntedly.

Richmond had a surprising number of catholic churches, but only one close to where Edward Gordon had lived. Luck was a lady: Dan O'Leary was kneeling in the middle of a row of benches, hands covering his face. DI Kapoor quietly moved to the old man's side and sat down. So did Rossi.

"I know who you are", O'Leary told Ishika. "They call you "Indian Husky", because of your eyes."

"We need to talk to you, Mr. O'Leary", the Detective Inspector said.

"Can't you see I'm busy? My son is dead and I missed the last six months of his life because I was running away from you."

"You and I both know that it's your fault you had to run in the first place. If you're praying to atone for your sins, I know a more practical way both HE…" she nodded in the direction of the cross hanging above the altar, "… and your son would surely prefer."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

"You should see it from the bright side", Garcia chirped. "You don't only have a separate room, you have a whole wing all to yourself!" Richmond City Hospital was renovating its older part so it had been possible to accommodate Morgan without endangering the other patients. Granted, the hospital's lawyers had been totally against this plan – they and the FBI's legal advisors were already calculating with shaking hands and sweaty foreheads how much this whole affair would cost their respective clients if anything went wrong – but the hospital's administrator had owed Strauss a favor, too.

"Honey, seriously, go away. I don't want you here. This damn thing inside me could blow up any minute."

"In New York you told me never to stop talking to you. I didn't answer back then because I was mad at you, but I silently vowed I'd indeed never do that. You don't really think I'm going to break my promise now, in this time of dearest need?"

"I still hope that the team finds a solution, but with the unsub dead… I'm preparing to die, Garcia, and the only thing that holds me up in this situation is the knowledge that you'll live on and remember me with a naughty smile on your face."

"Not so fast", Dr. Landry, who had just come through the door, intervened. "None of my patients dies just like that. Not with me at least giving it a shot. You don't think I came all the way from L.A. just to stand around and gather dust, did you?"

As it turned out, Landry had one of the old operating rooms ready and a team of loyal co-workers waiting. "You don't have the hospital's or the FBI's assent for this, do you?", Morgan asked as they got him ready for the procedure.

"All I need is _your_ assent, Agent Morgan", Landry said. "The person who built this thing is dead. Your only chance not to turn into human firework is me taking this thing out and connecting it with an alternative energy source until the bomb squad either blows it up or defuses it. I'm not going to wait until a bunch of lawyers has finally figured out if an operation on you under these circumstances could result in any legal consequences for the hospital or the FBI."

"Thank you, doc", Morgan whispered as the anesthetics began to have an effect.

"Thank me by surviving this", the doctor replied.

The second Morgan was brought into the operating room, Garcia informed Hotch. The Unit Chief needed all his negotiation skills and the physical assistance of Prentiss and JJ to get the technical analyst out of the empty hospital wing. Holding their breaths, they followed the events via a monitor that was connected to the surveillance cameras in the OR and the main corridor. Tim Boones, the bomb expert who had fallen so much in love with Gordon's device, had offered voluntarily to connect the thing with the alternative source of energy and carry it out of the hospital into the park where it could do no harm, should it explode unplanned. The tricky part was the transition from the operating room to the park. If anything happened in that time span, Boone would be blown into pieces.

Carefully he connected the blood-dripping machine, still attached to Morgan's body, to the alternative source of energy, then took it out as soon as Dr. Landry had cut the muscle tissue that had grown around it in the past 45 hours. Slowly he made his way to the elevator. Everyone would have preferred the stairs, but since the wing was getting renovated, the staircase was unusable. Still not daring to breath, the agents watched as the bomb expert stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the first floor. Shuddering slightly, the machine jumped to life. With every foot it moved away from Morgan, Garcia relaxed a little more. Just another few seconds and he would be completely out of danger.

"Is this scraping noise normal?", Prentiss asked, listening intently to the sounds the microphone which was attached to the bomb expert's uniform, transmitted.

"The wing was built in the 1930s, but they did renew the elevator in the meantime, didn't they?", JJ asked anxiously.

The machine came to a screeching halt and all the lights went out. Flickering dimly, the emergency lighting sprang to life. "Hello? Please tell me someone just pushed the wrong button!", the expert yelled, not daring to move.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

"We've got someone to defuse the bomb", Rossi shouted, rounding the corner with DI Kapoor, Reid and O'Leary.

"And we've got a new problem", Hotch replied.

"Without proper lighting I can't tell the man how to defuse the bomb", O'Leary said after taking in the situation. "I need to see what my son built. This transmission…", he nodded at the monitor, "…is way too blurry – I have to see the wires. We'll have to wait until the elevator is repaired."

"The connection with the alternative energy source is highly instable! The bomb can explode every second!!!", Garcia screamed at him. "Your son might have built this, but you taught him everything you know! You don't need to _see _the wires to defuse it – just think about your son and they way he did things."

Face turned into a stone mask, Dan O'Leary remained silent.

Rossi and Ishika bandied looks. They were both thinking the same. "Hotch, close your eyes and cover your ears!", the senior agent commanded. "Prentiss, you help us, Reid, you assist Garcia." Prentiss, Reid and Garcia were a little confused as the DI and their friend moved forward in one smooth motion and grabbed O'Leary, but a blink of an eye later they caught on.

"What the hell are you doing?", the IRA bomber shouted as they carried him into the old hospital wing and handcuffed him to a heating right next to the elevator well. Garcia and Reid put up the monitor and her laptop right next to him.

"It's easy to refuse things when you're out of the line of fire. But now you're in the epicenter. If the bomb explodes, you'll go down, too. Just like our colleagues", Ishika informed him, her voice cold as ice.

"That's against the law!", the old man yelled.

"File a complaint", Rossi hissed.

The old man closed his eyes and for a second Reid thought he had just given up. He was way into his seventies, what did he have to lose? But then O'Leary drew a deep breath, looked at the monitor and gave Boone the instructions he needed.

"I'm sorry for what my son did", the old man told Ishika afterwards. "He had no right to hurt innocent people. But I'm not sorry for what I did in the past."

"I didn't expect you to", the DI replied curtly, handcuffing him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.**

"You don't look like you're celebrating", Rossi observed as he met Ishika Kapoor in her hotel's bar. "A provisional BAU report on the Edward Gordon case", he said and handed her a file. "We'll e-mail the final one." He couldn't help but notice how wonderfully her black hair shimmered in the dim bar light.

"Thank you for taking the trouble to bring it to me in person", she replied, smiling a sad smile.

"Considering the fact that you successfully closed your investigation you didn't appear terribly happy back at the hospital."

"You noticed?" Ishika locked her green-brown eyes with him. "Everyone was overflowing with joy because Agent Morgan was finally safe and you took the time to think about a _wise-ass_ _Brit_?"

Rossi's eyes glinted as she threw his own words back at him. "You were right, my ego got damaged last time we met. Everything was perfect and then you came along… Your stubbornness almost destroyed all my plans… but, I've got to admit, you were a worthy opponent. Under different circumstances I would have enjoyed battling with you."

"How are the circumstances tonight, Agent Rossi?", she asked.

"How many drinks did you have?"

"Only this one."

"Let's go upstairs."

They made their way to Ishika's hotel room in silence, like starved wolves heading for the feed lot. On the doorstep he kissed her hungrily. Full of dark energy, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the room. With one swift motion, Rossi swept her off her feet and pinned her to the ground. Breathing heavily, not willing to let him take control just yet, she was preparing to roll him over when her cell phone started to ring. Cursing under her breath, she fished it out of her purse and switched it off.

"4" means "I love you", doesn't it?", Rossi said, referring to the prank he'd played on her on their way to Gordon's apartment. "I gave your caller three options, but he made up another one, which I hadn't given. "4" is supposed to mean that he loves you and doesn't expect you to change… Why are you so afraid of getting married?"

"Since you've been married thrice, you should know", she replied tersely.

"I ruined three marriages because at the bottom of my heart I'm a self-centered bastard. _You_ are not."

She didn't answer immediately. When she finally spoke up, her voice was hoarse. "Every time someone asks me, I've got the feeling of suffocating, of drowning. As if I'm making the biggest mistake of my life." She bend down to kiss Rossi again, but he turned away.

"No", he said, rearranging his shirt. "_This_ would be the biggest mistake of your life. Call him, whatever his name is, and say yes. He's madly in love with you and he understands you. Someone is offering you a precious gift. Take it."

Ishika sat down and looked Rossi straight in the face for a moment. Then she nodded. He got up and headed for the door.

"Are you going to get a shower?", she asked.

"Oh yes", the profiler said.

"A cold one?", she smiled, a slightly playful note reentering her voice.

"Icy cold", he replied.

Later, back in his own bedroom, he couldn't sleep for a long time. Finally, after listening to the clock strike three, he took his phone and dialed a familiar number. It didn't take her long to answer. No surprise there. He knew her well enough by now to be sure she hadn't been sleeping. The day had been way too eventful. "Garcia", he said, sighing. "When did I get so altruistic?"

Penelope Garcia didn't need to ask what he was talking about. She had noticed the way he had looked at DI Kapoor. "What do you think?", she replied.

"It's from being around all of you all the time. You're contagious in your conscious, always responsible and caring-for-each-other manner. They should put up a hazard warning sign in front of the BAU's offices."

Garcia laughed heartily. "Welcome to the team, Agent Rossi!", she said.

**author's note: DI Kapoor made her first appearance in "hemlock". I like her a lot, but do you, too? Would you like to read another story with her? **


End file.
